Lyn's Log, 28th April 2006
Passage to Belem

Belem, Brazil.
S1º30', W48º29'
9,206 miles.

We left Fortaleza on the 13th April. We pulled ourselves out of our mooring without entagling with anyone else's ropes, but then as we put the engine into gear it made a very loud rumbling noise which might have been caused by a damaged prop shaft. This can happen if ropes tangle the propellor, and we had not tested the engine again after our disasterous arrival. At the very least the cutlass bearing might be damaged. To check it we would need to get the boat on dry land. We dropped the anchor and rowed back ashore to ask the marina manager if there was anywhere around where we could dry out. It seemed there wasn't. The best idea, Armando assured us, was to sail to the fishing village of Luis Correia some 200 miles along the coast, where there was a brand new marina that would surely be able to assist us. With no better suggestions, we set off.

Two and a half days later we arrived at the breakwater at the entrance to Luis Correia. The village was over a mile up the river against a 3 knot current. We gingerly engaged the engine and found to our relief it was no longer making a noise, at least at low speed. We anchored off a small beach with some fishing boats and had a drink in the bar (see pic above). Andrew rowed a little further up river to investigate the so-called marina and found some pilings crowded with fishing boats and a small rickety pontoon where one yacht, at its peril, might just about tie up. There were rubbish bins nearby and a closed office, but nothing else. The fishermen were friendly and tried to converse with us, but unfortunately they did not speak slowly with hand gestures and we understood very little, only that it was Easter and perhaps something was happening in the town in the evening. There was obviously nowhere we could dry out so we never mentioned it. It was a poor fishing village, with few amenities other than an ice factory and a pretty church. Largely single-roomed dwellings and unmade roads. The remains of some old military buildings, roof tiles and paving slabs, were being dug up by local people re-using them for their own properties.

The following morning we went back to the breakwater anchorage where the sea was a little clearer and Andrew could dive down to see the prop shaft. He decided the cutlass bearing must have worked loose, which was causing the noise, so he took a spanner down and tightened it a little. It took a lot of diving over a few hours. Being my birthday, we then decided to go back up the river to the "marina", as it was near the village centre, and eat out. We saw no decent shops - just an extremely basic bakery with a few other provisions, and a couple of tiny, open-air bars, one serving food. We had spicy fried chicken, black beans in gravy, rice, spaghetti, salad with herbs and two large beers for just over £3. We were the only (paying) customers, so the lads running the restaurant changed the video tape to one in English of a past American pop concert (artists and songs I haven't heard in a while) and the food was well presented. There were huge smiles when we left a £1.20 tip! It must be my cheapest ever birthday treat, but not bad for all that. The one thing I missed was a caiparinha - they apologised but I don't think they had any ice.

Next day we set off for Belem expecting a 5-6 day passage for the remaining 550 miles, and in fact it took seven. One day was extremely slow with no wind, and another was constant heavy rain. We hitched a bucket under the gooseneck, where the boom meets the mast, and collected 15 gallons of drinking water. Mostly though it was a pleasant passage with moderate winds, and hot sunshine. The current often gave us an extra knot which helped a lot. At night the phosphorescence illuminated our wake, and at times great explosions of light seemed to bubble up in the sea around us. As we got nearer to the Amazon, the sea became shallower and increasingly a green-brown tinge. I made bread twice, used up our most rusty tins of food (see "Passage to Recife"), and managed to smash my thumb opening the hatch.

We anchored just inside the mouth of the river Pará at the entrance to the Amazon system, as it got dark in the evening of 23rd April. There was a three knot tidal current in the river, so at dawn we took advantage of the favourable current to get going again. Fishermen were spreading drift nets half a mile long across the river and we had to zig-zag around them - travelling at night would have been impossible. We anchored by a pretty looking village for three hours during the worst of the foul tide, but unfortunately the current was too strong for us to go ashore. Then we just made the last 20 miles to Belem as it got dark, but could not find the yacht club moorings and had to anchor off, clear of the busy river traffic. In the morning we realised the club was directly opposite on the other bank of the river, about a mile from where the chart marked it.